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The 19th-century territorial seal of Washington had designs on two sides; one side had a detailed naturalistic scene with sea and mountains and a woman in the foreground epitomizing hope, while the other side showed a log cabin, wagon, and fir forest. That design was replaced at the time of statehood in 1889. Charles Talcott, a jeweler who had been called upon to engrave the seal, recommended a simple and striking design with the name of the state, the date of its admission to the Union, and a bust of George Washington. That seal was adopted on July 4, 1889. In 1915 Mrs. S.J. Chadwick chose a background of green for the flag of the "Evergreen State" and placed a bust of President George Washington in the center. In 1920 the training ship owned by the Washington State Nautical School flew a similar flag.
The green state flag adopted by the state legislature in 1923 featured the state seal in its center. Originally the flag was to be decorated with green fringe, but after 1925 it was designated as having a fringe of gold when displayed on certain occasions. A more precise artistic definition was given to the flag on April 19, 1967. That law requires the seal to appear correctly on both sides of the flag, although in practice most flags are still made single-sided. Washington is alone in having a U.S. state flag with a green background. |
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Washington
Official name: State of Washington.
State nickname: the Evergreen State.
Total area: 70,637 sq mi, 182,949 sq km.
Population (2000): 5,894,121.
Population by race, origin (1997): white non-Hispanic 83.8%; white Hispanic 5.4%; black (including Hispanic) 3.5%; American Indian/Eskimo/Aleut 1.8%; Asian/Pacific Islander 5.5%.
Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (1995): 6.7 (U.S. avg. 6.0).
Gross domestic (state) product (1996): U.S.$159,600,000,000 (U.S.$28,910 per capita).
Land use (1992): federal land 29.4%; non-federal land 70.6%, of which forest 29.6%, cropland 15.9%, pasture 3.2%, rangeland 12.9%, urban and built-up areas 4.4%, other 4.6%.
Exports by state (1997): U.S.$32,752,000,000; percent of national total 5.32%.
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